In her piece for The Washington Post, Ms Heard does not name Mr Depp but describes her experience of speaking out against domestic violence, stating she “faced our culture’s wrath”.

She said she had lost a role in a film, was dropped by a major fashion brand and witnessed “how institutions protect men accused of abuse”.

Mr Depp’s defamation claim says the article worked on the “central premise that Ms Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her” and states that she was in fact the perpetrator.

The lawsuit claims her allegations lost him his lucrative role as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean.

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The couple faced an Australian court for failing to declare their two dogs when entering the country in 2015